Denver Broncos: What’s Emmanuel Sanders’ fantasy football value?

Can Denver Broncos wideout Emmanuel Sanders finish the 2017 season as one of the top wide receivers in fantasy football?

Denver Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders finished last season with 79 receptions for 1,032 yards and five touchdowns off of 137 targets, equating to 212.60 fantasy points in PPR (point per reception) leagues, ranking 17th amongst wide receivers. His performance last year made him a WR2 in fantasy leagues.

Sanders became a fantasy football commodity in 2014 when he scored 299.8 fantasy points. That year, he eclipsed 100-reception mark and gained 1,404 receiving yards. He also ranked 16th in the league with nine receiving touchdowns. His immaculate season made it easy for fantasy owners to buy in on him for the following year. But unfortunately, he saw a dip in production, catching 76 passes for 1,135 yards and six touchdowns which equated to 228.4 PPR fantasy points, 71.4 point difference from the previous season.

One of the reasons for his drop off in production was a drastic change in his catch rate. In 2014 he caught 71.6 percent of his passes compared to 2015 when he caught 55.9 percent of the passes thrown his way and in 2016 when he managed to reel in 57.7 percent of his targeted passes.

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The 2014 season was a totally different animal for Sanders. Peyton Manning was on point that year, passing for 4,727 yards and 39 touchdowns. The offense was moving the ball at will and Sanders was receiving plenty of catchable targets. Manning started to slowdown in 2015 and the downfall of his passing production presented a noticeable hit in Sanders’ ability to score fantasy points. Of course 2016 was very similar, with the Broncos rolling out both Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch, two very inexperienced quarterbacks.

What should we expect from Sanders for this up coming year? The Broncos didn’t elect to bring in much competition for targets. They spent a third-round pick on Carlos Henderson, wide receiver from Louisiana Tech, but he’s not currently expected to take over a large market share of the team’s passing targets.

Whether it’s Lynch or Siemian, whoever is starting at quarterback is going to heavily influence Sanders’ fantasy production. Both quarterbacks will have another year of experience under their belt and hopefully they’ve developed their skill sets enough that their inefficiencies won’t prevent Sanders from hitting his potential in fantasy. The passing volume within the offense should be very similar from last year, but the quality of targets is going to be the main factor to whether Sanders can step up his game and finish as a top tier wide receiver in fantasy this season.

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I don’t expect the quality of targets to substantially get better, but there should be a noticeable difference. With that being said, his fantasy production should only increase, given that the passing volume in the offense should be similar to last year and that the overall quality of passing targets should only increase. However, the potential spike in his numbers wouldn’t be enough to put him over the top, and probably wouldn’t be much more noticeable compared to last year’s figures, but it should still be an increase.

He finished last year as WR17 in fantasy football and he should hover around that range if he remains healthy. If anything, he will be a solid WR2 for your fantasy team.

Per Myfantasyleague.com, Sanders has an ADP of 83.31, making him a seventh -ound pick in 12 team leagues. This is a tremendous value, considering he finished last year as the 17th best wide receiver in fantasy. He is currently being drafted as the 35th wide receiver off the board. If he remains healthy, he will definitely out-produce his current ADP and finish in the top-20 amongst wide receivers.

The inconsistent play at the quarterback position is one of the main reasons why he is falling in drafts, but keep in mind, he played in an inconsistent passing offense the last two seasons and still finished as one of the top fantasy wide receivers in the league. Don’t be scared off from the lack of experience at quarterback, because he has a history of being able to churn out decent fantasy production with suboptimal quarterback play.

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Sanders is a very talented wide receiver who has the ability to take over games. He’s currently being undervalued in fantasy and owners should take advantage of the massive discount that’s associated with his price tag.